Thursday, November 20, 2008

Sometimes my little Princess just cracks me up. She comes up with some of the funniest things and when she tells me about it she is so animated that there is no way to retell it and capture that animation. So here is my attempt at it because I do not want to forget these things she has said:

Sunday Chris brought her home from choir practice and she runs in the house all excited and tells me "Mom I get to be a sheep and I have a solo." I respond, "You get to have a solo?" "Yes," she replies "and I get to be a sheep!" I think she was more excited about being a sheep.

A couple of days later she is telling me about her solo and says, "I get to stand in front by the black thing, you know the microphone." There is just no way to show her excitement over this. Later in the day I hear her downstairs playing the CD with her music and yelling the words, "I would sing so quiet." Did you get that? She was yelling, "I would sing so quiet." I told her she needed to use her pretty voice. She proceeded to tell me she was pretending that she was singing in front of everyone and she wanted to make sure they could hear her. I told her she would be singing into a microphone and everyone would be able to hear her just fine.

Another story about her was from the other day in the car. We were on the way to a funeral and she tells us that she has decided she wants to be a missionary. She wants to tell people about Jesus and give them Bibles. About this time Chris and I were pretty proud of her for saying that. She then proceeds to tell us that why she wants to be a missionary is because sometimes at night missionaries eat marshmallows. So my daughter want to be a missionary so she can eat marshmallows. She then tells us she is going to be a missionary around here on this Earth. She is not going to other Earths. How cute is that?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Seth is 7 months old now. He has some new tricks and is working on a few more.

He is crawling like a race car driver. He is also pulling up on everything. The other day Grant and I were playing with Seth in the floor and Seth took a toy from Grant while Seth was standing up holding on to me. When he took the toy from Grant he used both hands and let go of me. He stood there for a few seconds all by himself. Then he realized what he had done and he sat down. Grant and I cheered for him and he had the biggest smile on his face. He was really proud of himself.

Another one of his favorite tricks is to sneak over to the stairs and start to climb them. I think it is time to do some baby proofing around the house.

Another of his tricks is my least favorite. He has decided that he does not like to sleep. He is waking up several times during the night. I try to let him cry it out, but it is not working. After listening to him for 30 min, one of us usually gives into him and picks him up. Then the only way to get him back to sleep is to feed him, even though it goes against everything I know on how to get a baby try sleep through the night. At 3:00 in the morning, when you have had several nights of this and you are very sleep deprived, you will try anything to get them to sleep. I am not one to rush to the doctor, but this is getting old. I am wondering if he has an ear ache or has stomach problems. I pulled back on his baby food thinking maybe he was having an allergy to something, but that has not seemed to make a difference.

Friday, October 31, 2008

I thought I would make Carmel Apples with my kids. I am not very good at involving my kids in cooking or doing special projects. I thought this would be a good way to do both.

It did not go well. I cooked the Carmel in the Crock-Pot. I thought it would not get as hot as a pot. It did get very warm. On the first apple, they both hit the sides of their hands on the Crock-Pot and both decided that they would let me do it all.

Do you like how well I fix my daughter's hair? How about the swimming goggles around her neck?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Mercedes, over at Common Sense with Money, has started a new blog. On her new blog she is reviewing different products. To kick off the start of this new blog, she is giving away a Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker.

My daughter would love this!! Actually my son would like it too. I hope I win!! Visit this link to enter too!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I have been having a problem with fruit flies lately. I put all of our fruit in the refrigerator or in Ziploc bags and I thought I had gotten rid of them.

Then I went to make Amish Friendship Bread. To make it you have to leave a bread starter out on your counter top for 10 days. Well the fermenting bread starter attracted fruit flies again. I had read somewhere on the Internet of a solution to get rid of them, but I could not remember where.

I remembered the ingredients, but I could not remember the amounts. The ingredients were white vinegar, dishwashing soap, and water. So I poured a little vinegar in a bowl and added a little dishwashing soap, and some water.

Guess what??!! It worked!! No more fruit flies!! Can you see the little bugs in the bottom of the bowl?

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

We went camping this weekend in a cabin! It was a lot of fun. Several families that we are friends with went. It was at MarVal. I had never been there before, but they have camp site and cabins. Several families have campers and they brought those. One family camped in a tent, but with a baby I think the cabin was the best way to go for us.

MarVal was a really neat campground. It was a private campground with a big playground in the middle. They also have a swimming pool and a miniature golf course. For fall they had a hayride. On the hayride you got to plant your magic pumpkin seed and then come back and pick your pumpkin. After you picked your pumpkin you then get to paint it. My kids thought that was great. They do not get to paint very often. While we were waiting to go on the hayride we got two icees to share. Can you tell what color the kids icees were?

Saturday night they go Trick or Treating to all the camp sites. My kids were excited to go Trick or Treating early. Number 1 kept running ahead. He was so excited to get candy. He even left his friend behind.

They also have these tricycles that are very low to the ground and have hand brakes and steering. Number 1 son loved those. Princesses legs were not quite long enough for them.

On Sunday morning we had a mini church service. One of the older boys played his guitar while we sang and then one of the dads gave a short devotional.

It was a great time. My kids did not want to leave!

Russell (Chris's brother) dog sat and house sat for us. I think our dogs probably want us to go out of town more often. Russell fed them a steak!

I have been so busy lately that I forgot to blog. What have I been doing?

1. I have been helping to get things ready for a Women's Conference at my church. Angela Thomas is coming to our church to speak. I have not done one of her Bible Studies, but I have heard good things about her.

2. We went camping this weekend. Camping in a cabin! I will blog about that later.

3. I have been trying to implement FlyLady. If you do not know about FlyLady go to her website here. www.FlyLady.net She helps you get rid of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome). So far I am keeping my sink clean and making my bed. Yesterday I tried to do the weekly home blessing hour, but I can not figure out how to vacuum my whole house in 10 min. Then baby got up from his nap and it was all over.

Well that is what I have been doing in addition to keeping up with 3 kids and homeschooling 2!

I use to be a children's leader at Bible Study Fellowship. One week when we were planning our lesson about the woman at the well, the leader's manual said to be careful and say well not whale. Make sure the children understand it is a well.

I thought that is silly. The children would not confuse well and whale, but I made sure and explain that it was a well were they would get their drinking water in biblical times. That they did not have water faucets like we do.

Well, the very next Sunday when we were leaving church I asked my son what his bible story was this week. He said it was about Jesus and a Dolphin. My husband and I looked at each other very confused and wondered what they were teaching our children. Well, we went through a list of things that we thought the story could be about and he kept insisting it was about Jesus and a Dolphin. Then I remembered my Bible Study Fellowship lesson. I then proceeded to ask him if it was about Jesus and a whale. He said yes that was it! Well my husband and I had to reteach the story to him and make sure he understood what a well was not a whale.

So the lesson I learned, so well from my son, was to watch the way you pronounce things. You never know who might think you are talking about Jesus and a Dolphin.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Last night I had a bad night with baby. I do not know how many times I got up to put his pacifier in his mouth and pat his back. When he got up at his normal wake up time of 7:00 I nursed him and put him back to bed. He was so tired from his night that he went back to sleep.

My wonderful husband got up with the other two kids and they had planned to go pick up Chick-fil-A breakfast. Well, they got sidetracked and when baby and I got up at 9:00 they were still home. I suggested we put some biscuits in the oven and make fruit smoothies. I have never made fruit smoothies, but I figured it could not be hard and I was right.

So here is what I did:1 small container of frozen sweetened strawberries1 banana1/2 lg container of plain yogurta little milk

I put 1/2 of the strawberries in the blender and pureed them. I then added a banana and mixed them together well. Then I added the yogurt and a splash of milk and mixed well. I wanted a more strawberry flavor so I added the rest of the strawberries at this point. Then we poured it into glasses and enjoyed!!

It was much cheaper than Chick-fil-A and probably healthier. Of course the canned biscuits with butter are not that healthy, but they were good.

Monday, September 15, 2008

I just returned from my weekend away. Well, it was kind of away. It was only 30 minutes away and baby went with me. It was still a good time and break. There was no house to be cleaned, no dinner to be cooked, no laundry to be washed, and someone else cooked for me. I had girl time all weekend long. It is nice to have time to just spend with friends.

We all bring snacks and I had a request to bring this dip. Everyone always want the recipe for this, so I thought I would post it.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I just realized it is Wednesday night and I have not posted anything this week. What have I been doing?

We have been schooling everyday this week. I think this will be our first full week of schooling. We are starting to see some new things introduced and Number 1 son had his first phonics test of the year. He did great on it.

Another thing I have been doing is Walgreens!! Walgreens has had some great deals this week. Check out MoneySavingMom.com and CommonSensewith Money.com to see all of the deals. I am planning a big trip tomorrow with spending little out of pocket. I will post pictures and detailed explanation of what I have done tomorrow night.

And my last thing that has kept me busy is I am planning a weekend away from my family. There is a group of girls from church that I go scrapbooking with for a weekend twice a year. I will not be totally away from my family. Baby will have to come with me since he is still nursing, but he is such a good baby that I think I will be able to get something done. Another one of the girls has a baby that is a month younger than Seth and he will be coming too.

I am planning on posting a couple of recipes soon. Be sure to come back and check those out.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

In our town we have a biannual kids clothing sale. You can sell the clothes that your kids have outgrown and buy new ones for the next season. The clothes have to be free of stains and tears.

I have been participating in this sale since it started. Before we had one here I would travel to one that was held in Little Rock. I love that I can buy everything my kids need for the season at once. Before there was not much for bigger boys, but this year I found more for number 1 son than anyone else. I was so surprised!!

Last night when I brought all of these home my kids were so excited. Number 1 son was the most excited. He had to try on everything. He kept saying, "Thank you Mommy, Thank You!"

So for all of these clothes, enough for 3 kids, I paid about $300. I also bought some shoes that I did not get in the picture. These clothes are all name brand too!! They are Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree and Children's Place. Sometimes you can even find boutique brand clothing.

You can choose to sell your clothes at 1/2 price on the last day of the sale. I did not find many pajamas and I also need a play coat for princess. I am going to try to go back on Saturday and see if I can find any more bargains.

My best bargain was the coat I bought for Number 1 son. It is a wool coat that looks brand new for $5. I was so excited. I even found a similar one for baby. Now the boys can dress alike. I also found a corduroy blazer for Number 1 son that looks just like one his Daddy has. they can dress alike too!

Monday, September 1, 2008

This year I was not very excited to start schooling. I think I have mentioned before that we have had a lot going on lately. We had a baby and moved and I was also planning on starting Princess on some schoolwork. I have been just worn out lately and the thought of shipping my kids off to school somewhere has been very appealing.

But then God is always so good to show me why I need to keep on homeschooling. First an email was sent out on the homeschooling email list that I am on. It was a devotional from Crosswalk Homeschool Encouragement. In this email the author talks about how she had lost her joy in her daily activities as a Mom. She kept hearing in her mind that she should put the kids in school and be a career mom. That she was failing at teaching her kids. That she was doomed to failure. Then one day one of her children thanked her for teaching them. It was then that she realized that she had let the enemies voice in her head. She wondered how well things would have been going if she believed that her homeschooling venture was a success.

Another day I was looking through some blogs and I found a link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh2VFkF7NLo to an interview with Steven Curtis Chapman about the loss of his daughter. From there I watched a music video dedicated to her. These made me think about how short time is with our kids. How I should cherish all of the time I have with them. God has given the desire to homeshool to my husband and I and I should thank him for that added time I have with my kids. The Bible clearly states that children are a blessing. Why would I want to send my blessings to someone else? Why would I let someone else have the blessing of watching their faces light up when they learn something?

So from there I started homeschooling last week. It went better than I could ever imagine. Both kids were excited and enjoyed it. Baby napped while we were working and I had plenty of time with both big kids.

So just as always God is so good to provide the encouragement that is needed just when it is

This week Number 1 was invited to a birthday party a Chuck E. Cheese. We decided to make a family night out of it and have dinner there.

Princess has always been afraid of the guy in the Chuck E. Cheese costume, but she loves going to Chuck E. Cheese. So the whole time there she is on the look out for him.

Well while we were there she was sitting in my lap while we were waiting on Daddy to order our pizza and get some tokens. She turned and looked at me and said, "Mommy I am not just scared of Chuck E., I am afraid of him."

It has been very busy around here. We started school this week and so far both kids are excited about their new school work. Princess loves getting to do her own schoolwork and Number 1's work is just a review right now. His work is so easy for him that I am having him do more than one page in his books.

We also had a garage sale this weekend. We got rid of quite a bit of stuff, but we still have quite a bit more to go. My Mother in Law said she is going to have a sale later this month. She told us to box everything up and put it in her sale. I am thinking about just taking it to Goodwill. Some of this stuff has been around for three sales now.

This next week is the kids consignment sale in our city. I have been busy getting clothes ready to sell there. I also will have a busy week this next week with that. If you volunteer to work at it, then you get to shop first. So I will be working Tuesday night and then shopping on Wednesday. I love to buy my kids clothes there. I can buy all of their clothes for the season and get name brand clothes for a lot less.

We also have a field trip with our homeschool group on Tuesday. We are going to visit a canning plant. They can pickled watermelon rinds. I have never had a pickled watermelon rind. It is not something I think I want to try. I have been told that they give away the fruit part of the watermelon for free. My kids will be trying to load up the car with watermelon. I will try and get some pictures of that!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My family loves this baked oatmeal. I found the recipe over at Money Saving Mom. I thought I would put a link to it on my blog, because I can never seem to remember if it is at Money Saving Mom or Biblical Womanhood.

Well today at Biblical Womanhood it is Anti-Procrastination Day. I decided to take the challenge. Since we have moved in our new house I have had a lot of things I have been putting off.

One is the continual pile of mail that has been sitting at the end of our bar. Now instead of one big out of control pile, it is two small piles. One pile is bills that need to be paid and the other is papers that my husband need to go through. Well cleaning off that area meant a lot of things got stacked up on my desk. So then I cleaned up my desk.

My next chore was to finish tagging clothes for the Growing Kids Sale. There is a kids clothes sale in our town twice a year. I am usually able to sell enough clothes to pay for the clothes I buy. I do not think that is going to happen this year. I am saving most of Number 1 son's clothes for baby and I am going to be buying more clothes this year with three kids to buy for.

My next procrastination chore was the kids toy closet. When we moved in I just had the kids take toys to the toy closet and their rooms. I did not have the time or energy to sort through toys in the middle of moving with a 6 week old. Well then when I would have them clean up their toys they never cleaned up very well. So today I tackled the toy closet!! Here are the pictures to prove it!!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Last night number 1 son and princess went to new classes at church. Number 1 went to Sparkies and princess went to Adventure Land.

In Sparkies they earn "money" for memorizing Bible verses and bringing friends. The first friend he thought of to bring was his sister. They really are becoming best friends.

That is one of the advantages to homeschooling. They spend everyday all day together, so they have to be good friends. If they were not they would have no one to play with.

Princess loved her new class too because they sung songs. Anything to do with music and she loves it!!

And Baby got to stay with me. He has been teething and he ran a slight fever on Wednesday. So he got to go learn about home management. He was pretty good in there. I hope he did not distract too many.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Well school started today for public school in our city, but not in our house. Our new school books have not come in yet. One of my friends, that homeschools, said she is waiting until after Labor Day. Maybe I should do that? It would probably be better for me to just jump in as soon as we get the books in.

There are many times I doubt myself about homeschooling. Am I warping my kids? Am I stunting their academic growth? Am I a good enough teacher for them? Should I just give up and send them to public school?

Then I have to go back in my mind to why we decided to do this. To protect our kids. To teach them the things that we want to teach them. To teach them not only to read and write, but to teach them to love God with their whole heart.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I recently read a great article on a blog that I love reading. She expressed so many of my thoughts about being a Stay at Home Mom. So many people think it is easy and we do it because that is all we are qualified to do. Or we do it because our husbands make a lot of money and we do not need to work. We do it because we believe with our whole heart that it is what is best for our child!!

Lately I have been contemplating "me time." I used to have it, but now I do not. Is it that important for a Mom to have me time?

My children used to go to Mother's Day Out at our church 2 days a week from 9:00 - 2:00. I would spend those days running myself to death. I would either run all over town to get all of my errands taken care of or I would clean my house from top to bottom. Then after I picked my kids up I was either so tired I could not stay awake or I did not want to bring the kids home because I did not want them to mess up the house.

Now my oldest is too old for Mother's Day Out and we have started homeschooling and we moved to the other side of town and I would spend 30 minutes taking and picking up kids.

So in order to have "me time" I would have to put my oldest in school and my two others in Mother's Day Out. But what would this mean for my kids. It would mean that my oldest would be in public school. My husband and I would lose all control over what he is taught. We would lose all control over the influences in his life. It would mean that my two oldest children would not spend as much time together and their friendship would probably suffer. It would mean that my baby would grow up not having his loving brother and sister hovering over him all the time. It would also mean that I would have to pay $36 a week for childcare plus the gas it would cost to get to Mother's Day Out.

Is that worth it for "me time." I do not think so. I was recently reading a book called Passionate Housewives Desperate for Christ. It makes the point that as Christian we no longer own our lives or our time. We are bond servants of Christ and my job for Christ right now is to make sure my children grow up learning all they can about Christ all day long.

So for now I will try to focus on the time I get with my kids while they still want to be around me. And not focus on my toenails that desperately need a pedicure or my gray hair that needs to be covered. I will focus on the beautiful smiles I get to see everyday.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

We started our baby on food last night. On Wednesday we went for his 4 month check up. The doctor said we could start him on cereal anytime between now and 6 months. We decided since he was so big we would go ahead and start on cereal now.

I was not sure how he would do, but he has been very interested in food lately. My first child I waited until 6 months for food. My second I waited until about 5 months. So I wondered if he was really ready.

Well he was. He gobbled down that cereal. A lot of what went in his mouth actually stayed in his mouth. I was pretty surprised. I think he actually enjoyed it.

Friday, August 8, 2008

I read this morning on one of my favorite blogs that there is a glitch in the Walgreens RR. The Kelloggs RR are printing out 2. Even though I have a strict policy of not taking my kids to Walgreens, I could not pass up this opportunity. So I loaded up the car and off to Walgreens we went. On the way there the kids got a speech about how we were only buying certain things and to not beg for anything and we were not looking at toys. Well the kids were really good especially when they saw what I was buying. I do not usually buy these kinds of treats. I figure my kids get enough sugar and do not need any sugary treats.

So here is what I bought:2 boxes of Cheese-Its2 boxes of Rice Crispy Treats1 box of Pop tarts2 boxes of dried cranberries1 coke

I did not have any coupons, unfortunately.I spent $14.67 and got back 2 $5 RR.I was so excited I called my husband and asked him to stop buy and buy so more!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Our 1st baby is six years old now!! Grant had a birthday on August 2nd. I does not seem like he should be 6. I am learning how important it is to enjoy each day, because before you know it they will be in 1st Grade.

Today we went and ordered books for the new school year. It seems unreal that we are ordering 1st grade books. It seems unreal that he will be able to do all of the things in these books by the end of the year.

I tried some new recipes last night. They did not get quite the praise I was hoping for. Chris and I liked them, but the kids did not. Chris said they may not be keepers because we couldn't get the kids to eat.

This month's issue of Southern living has some recipes for vegetable plates. I thought I would try them because I keep reading that one way to cut your grocery bill is to not have meat every meal. I made Not Yo' Mamma's Mac and Cheese, Squash Casserole, and green beans.

The Mac and Cheese is very rich!! The kids did not like it at all. It makes a big casserole size dish. So with Chris and I being the only one eating it, we have a whole lot of mac and cheese left.

The kids did like the squash casserole, but not the green beans.

We usually eat leftovers every other night, so tonight the kids will have sandwiches with squash casserole. Chris and I will have a whole lot of mac and cheese!

Pat out carefully on a heavily floured surface until 3/4 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with a biscuit cutter and place on a heavily buttered baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 10 - 15 min. or until lightly golden.

While biscuits are baking stir together the following ingredients for a glaze:1 cup confectioners sugar2 -4 tbs milk1/4 tsp vanilla

Drizzle glaze over biscuits as soon as you pull them out of the oven. Serve hot with butter.

Friday, July 25, 2008

I hit the diaper jackpot today!! My husband is amazed that I bought all the diapers I bought for the amount I spent. Walgreens had diapers on sale this week for 5.99. They also had a coupon in the July Easy saver catalog and the August Easy Saver Catalog. Today and tomorrow you can overlap coupons in both catalogs. So this morning I meet several friends at the 24 hour Walgreens. I bought 6 bags of diapers for about $8. Plus got back $10 in Register Rewards that I used to buy some other things that the coupons overlaped on. Then I went to the other Walgreens that opens at 8:00 am. There has been an elusive pharmacy coupon that I have not been able to find. Well they had it. With all three coupons I had an overage. I added some thing for free!! In my first transaction I bought 3 packages of diapers and two boxes of sidewalk chalk. I spent .26. In my second transaction I bought 3 packages of diapers 2 boxes of crayons and 2 candy bars. I spent $1.19!! Plus with each transaction I got $5.oo in RR. Yay!! My husband was so amazed. Now not only do I have plenty of diapers for awhile. I also have some to donate to the Pregnancy Crisis Center!!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Well it has been awhile since I added to this blog. A lot has changed since my last post. We had our baby and moved into a new house. I will write about those later

Yesterday was Mother's Day. We spent it at my husband's parents. My parents came over too. Our kids also sang at church last night. I think that is Katie Beth's favorite thing in the world. She loves being on stage.

For my Mother's Day present my wonderful husband bought me a new chair. I had picked it out, but didn't think we would get it right away. I wanted it for our bedroom, but I love it so much it is in the family room right now. Right in the middle of the room. I have to figure out a better arrangement in that room.